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carnitine

other nitrogen compound

Found in 1 ingredient across the CompKitchen flavor graph.

Look up another compound — search by name, CAS number, PubChem CID, or FEMA #.

2D Lewis structure of carnitine
2D Lewis Structure
Formula
C7H15NO3
Molecular weight
161.20 g/mol
PubChem CID
10917 — full record on PubChem

Properties

Odor threshold — in a food matrix
0.035 ppb – 74.6 ppb median 37.3 ppb · 2 published values · see all 2 with sources
Volatility
medium
CAS number
541-15-1
Regulatory · United States

FEMA GRAS — Generally Recognized As Safe for flavoring use

~ Likely match
FEMA number
4906
GRAS publication
GRAS 29
CAS number
36687-82-8
FEMA primary name
L-Carnitine tartrate

Reported use levels (ppm by food category)

Typical vs maximum reported addition levels in finished food. Use as a regulatory ceiling reference — verify against the current GRAS publication for your product category.

Food category Typical (ppm) Maximum (ppm)
baked goods 750 1250
beverages, alcoholic 750 1250
beverages, non-alcoholic 750 1250
condiments and relishes 750 1250
fats and oils 750 1250
fish products 750 1250
gravies 750 1250
meat products 750 1250
other grains 750 1250
poultry 750 1250
processed vegetables 750 1250
snack foods 750 1250
soups 750 1250
Source: FEMA GRAS publications 1-33.

Published thresholds

2 measured values from the literature. Grouped by what was actually measured — a threshold smelled in clean water, tasted in the mouth, or measured in a real food are three different quantities and are not pooled.

In a food matrix

0.035 ppb – 74.6 ppb

Measured in a real food, where the matrix shifts detection — not a clean-water value.

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
0.035 ppb water (food: milk) Literature corpus —
74.6 ppb water (food: unknown) Literature corpus —

Only values we can attribute are listed. Where a compendium's licence does not permit public attribution its figures are omitted here, so every number on this page traces to a citable source.

Found in

Measured impact first, then profile share

Every ingredient known to contain carnitine. Ingredients with a measured concentration come first, ranked by odour activity; the rest follow by how large a share of that ingredient's profile this molecule is. The figure beside each is how many different compounds that ingredient has in total — not the concentration of carnitine in it.

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